How To Change The Game Width And Height In Mugen

How to Change the Game Width and Height in MUGEN

MUGEN, that awesome fighting game engine, lets you create your very own brawlers with custom characters, stages, and even game mechanics. But sometimes, the default screen size just doesn’t cut it. Maybe you want a wider view for epic battles or a taller one to show off those cool stage designs. The good news? Changing the game’s width and height is totally doable, and we’re going to show you exactly how. Get ready to adjust your MUGEN experience!

Understanding MUGEN’s Configuration Files

Before we jump into making changes, let’s talk about the files that control how MUGEN looks. These files are like the brain of your game, storing all the important settings. The key file we need is called “mugen.cfg”. This is where you’ll find the settings for the game’s resolution, among other things.

Locating the mugen.cfg File

First, you need to find the right spot. Usually, “mugen.cfg” lives in the main folder where you installed MUGEN. This is the same folder where you see things like “chars”, “data”, and “stages” folders. Open this folder and look for a file named exactly “mugen.cfg”. It’s a text file, so you can open it with a simple text editor like Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac.

Backing Up Your mugen.cfg

Before you start editing, please make a copy of the original file and save it somewhere safe, maybe on your desktop, or make folder called “original” and put there. This is super important! If something goes wrong, you can always put the backup back in place and everything will be like before.

Modifying the Resolution Settings

Now, let’s get to the meat of it – changing the game width and height. Inside “mugen.cfg,” you’ll see a section labeled “[Video]”. This section contains the settings that control your game’s resolution.

Identifying the Width and Height Parameters

Within the [Video] section, you’ll find a few lines that look like this:

[Video]
;Screen and window size
Width = 640
Height = 480
    

These lines control the width and height of your game window. The numbers (like 640 and 480 in this example) represent the number of pixels for width and height respectively.

Changing the Values

To change the game’s width and height, simply change these numbers to your desired values. For example, if you wanted a wider screen, you could change the width to 1280. And if you wanted a taller screen you might try changing the height to 720. The lines would now look something like this:

[Video]
;Screen and window size
Width = 1280
Height = 720
    

You can use any numbers you like, just be aware that very large resolutions may make the game slow, and you need to consider the capability of your computer and monitor. A good starting point may be 1280×720, which is also known as HD. You might also try other common aspect ratios like 1024×768 or 800×600.

Saving Your Changes

After you edit the width and height numbers, make sure to save the file. If you are using Notepad just click “File > Save”, or if you are using other editors, use its save option. Then close the text editor, and launch your game again.

Understanding Aspect Ratio

When changing resolution, you need to think about the aspect ratio. Aspect ratio is the ratio between the width and the height of the screen. The most common ones are:

• 4:3: (Like old TVs) This has a width 4 times longer than the height, such as 640×480, or 800×600.
• 16:9: (Widescreen) This has a wider image, and it is the most common one now. Examples would be 1280×720 or 1920×1080.
• 16:10: Some monitors use this one. Examples would be 1280×800, or 1920×1200.

When you choose a resolution, it is important to remember this. If you pick a resolution with a strange aspect ratio, for example a 3:1 ratio (for example 600×200), your game may look weird.

Full Screen Mode and Windowed Mode

MUGEN gives you the choice of playing in full-screen mode or in a window. The “mugen.cfg” file controls how the game displays. Let’s take a look at how to adjust this option.

Locating the Fullscreen Option

In the “[Video]” section, there is another line:

[Video]
;Full screen mode
FullScreen = 0
    

The “FullScreen” line determines how your game appears. The default value is 0, meaning windowed mode.

Switching to Fullscreen

To switch to full screen mode, just change the “0” to a “1”, like this:

[Video]
;Full screen mode
FullScreen = 1
    

Now save your changes, and launch the game again to see your changes. If you want the game to be windowed again, revert the change to the original by changing the value back to “0”.

Considerations for Fullscreen

Fullscreen will make your game to take up the entire monitor, without borders. However, be aware of the following. When you pick a very big resolution such as 1920×1080, the game may become very slow. If this happens, try picking a smaller resolution such as 1280×720 or even smaller, and see if the speed becomes acceptable. If you are playing in full screen, your computer will also run hotter and use more power, because it is rendering more pixels. If the game is slowing down, and you cannot play comfortably in full screen, maybe it is better to play in windowed mode, or to lower the resolution of the game.

Aspect Ratio Correction

Sometimes, when you change the resolution, you might notice that things look a little stretched or squished. This is because the characters and stages in MUGEN are designed for a certain aspect ratio. Let’s see how you can fix this.

Understanding Aspect Ratio Correction

MUGEN has a setting that tries to keep the aspect ratio correct. This means the game tries to keep the proportions looking normal when you use a different screen size. But it doesn’t always work perfectly and you might need to change this setting to make sure the game does not look stretched.

Locating the Aspect Ratio Correction Settings

Inside the “[Video]” section, you’ll find a line like this:

[Video]
;Keep aspect ratio
CorrectAspect = 0
    

The default setting here is “0”, which means no correction. To turn on aspect ratio correction, change this line to “1”.

Adjusting Screen Stretching

Now your game should automatically adjust so that things don’t look stretched when you change the screen size. If the game still looks weird after turning aspect ratio correction on, you might have to fine-tune the width and height to better match the aspect ratio of the characters and stages.

Let’s say you are using a widescreen resolution such as 1280×720, and your characters look too wide or too thin, or the stage background looks stretched. To fix this, you may try lowering the screen width, maybe to 1024×720, or increase it, maybe to 1280×768. Try small changes like this, and test the game after each change until the problem is gone.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. Here are some common problems and how to fix them.

Game Crashing After Resolution Change

If your game crashes after you change the resolution, it might mean your computer can’t handle it. This can also happen if your chosen resolution is too different from the default one, or if your screen does not support that resolution. Here’s what to do:

• Go back to your backed-up mugen.cfg file and put it in the game folder again. This will make the game work like before, if the original setting was working for you.
• Try selecting a smaller resolution like 800×600. If that works, you can try to increase it little by little.
• If you changed the game to full screen mode, try to run it in windowed mode.

Game Running Too Slow

If the game becomes too slow, especially after you increase resolution, or go to full screen mode, try these options:

• Lower the resolution in the “mugen.cfg” file.
• If you are playing in full screen, try switching to windowed mode.
• Make sure no other programs are running in the background, since this may slow down the game.

Characters or Stages Look Distorted

If your characters or stage look stretched or distorted, try the following:

• Make sure “CorrectAspect = 1” is in the “mugen.cfg” file.
• Try fine tuning the screen width or height in the “mugen.cfg” file. Try changing the values to slightly lower or higher values.

Advanced Customization

If you want even more control of how the game looks, you can try these options.

Custom Screen Scaling

MUGEN also has options that allows you to change how the game is displayed in the screen. Sometimes, you might have some black border around the screen. MUGEN has options to change this so that the game uses the whole screen without having black bars on the sides. The following options in the “mugen.cfg” file control this. Find the following lines:

[Video]
; Stretch the screen to fit the window?
; if this is set to 0, it will attempt to make the game display the exact same way as
; it looks at the game's base resolution.
; 0: do not stretch the screen (letterboxed/pillarboxed when window/screen ratio is
;    different than screen ratio)
; 1: force stretch (may distort aspect ratio, so make sure screen ratio is right!)
Stretch = 0
            

This means the game will try to keep the image the way it was originally designed to be. If you have black borders around the screen, or if the image is too small in relation to the monitor, you might want to change this setting to “1”, like this:

[Video]
; Stretch the screen to fit the window?
; if this is set to 0, it will attempt to make the game display the exact same way as
; it looks at the game's base resolution.
; 0: do not stretch the screen (letterboxed/pillarboxed when window/screen ratio is
;    different than screen ratio)
; 1: force stretch (may distort aspect ratio, so make sure screen ratio is right!)
Stretch = 1
           

Additional Screen Options

There are several other settings in the [Video] section. You can change these too, to make the game behave the way you want. One example is:

[Video]
; Double buffering
DoubleBuffer = 1
            

If you change this setting to “0”, the game might run faster, but it might have screen flickering or tearing. Try to test the game with different settings to get to the result that you are more comfortable with.

Experimentation is Key

The best way to get your MUGEN game looking just right is to experiment. Don’t be afraid to try different resolutions, aspect ratios, and display modes. Just remember to always back up your “mugen.cfg” file before you make changes!

Changing the game width and height in MUGEN is a powerful way to customize your gaming experience. By understanding the “mugen.cfg” file and its settings, you can change the game to look the way you want it, whether you want a small window, a full screen game or a different aspect ratio.